This invention relates to medicine ball exercisers and particularly to a medicine ball having a handle and in which the weight is changeable by adding or subtracting barbell weights.
The medicine ball is a device that has enjoyed more than a century. of popularity. The typical medicine ball is generally larger than 10 inches diameter and has a leather upholstered surface. In recent years other versions of the medicine bail have appeared in which the balls have handles and are filled with various amounts of sand and shot. These balls are sold having weights in the range from 2 pounds up to about 35 pounds. These balls are expense, ranging in price from $ 30.00 for a two pond ball upwards to $ 100.00 for the heavier ball. There is also a demand for heavier balls up to 70 pounds. The typical athlete in training using the balls has a set, usually two balls (one for each hand) in each of a range of weightsxe2x80x946, 8, 12, 15, 20, 25 pounds.
Several problems characterize the use of these balls. The athlete must have a large number of balls. As his/her strength increases, he needs heavier and heavier balls and he wants to increase the weight in small increments. Storage and expense is therefore a problem.
It is an object of t his invention to provide a medicine ball with a handle that enables an athlete to grasp the ball in one or both hands or a pair of balls held in both hands for performing exercises.
It is another object that the ball be throwable without damage to ball or the surrounding floor or walls.
It is a further object that an array of weights be storable in the ball so that .the weight of the ball can be changed in small increments as required.
This invention is directed toward a solid ball having an open cavity into which the weights of a handle/weight assembly is inserted and releasably secured. The handle on the other end of the stem is accessible to the athlete. The handle/weight assembly includes a cap (disk) having a handle on one side and a threaded stem exteinding perpendicularly from the disk on the other side. Barbell plates, being round disks with a center hole, are mounted on the disk by passing the threaded stem through the holes and securing the disks with a nut on each side of the stack of disks. The .handle disk assembly is secured with the stack of weights inside the ball by turning the handle and screwing the end of the stem opposite the handle into a nut secured on the floor of the cylindrical cavity.